INCLUSIONS - PAUL MAHDER - MARTIN LAWRENCE

01.29.11

Comment by AB: Cork Marcheschi shows a current and retrospective selection of illuminated sculptures spanning nearly four decades, several of which are interactive, and all guaranteed to energize even the drabbest of interiors. Art for all; the kids love it just as much as everybody else. Worth a visit.

Comment by AB: A fascinating array of meticulously crafted works in all manner of media by Christopher Taggart blend math, science, kinetics, humor... and last but not least, art. They're all so different, you pretty much have to take 'em one at a time. Among the more curious entries are reconfigured footballs and a turkey claw tree, but they're all refreshingly aberrant. Sidle on by.

In the project room, Brion Nuda Rosch curates a selection of mark-making artworks by four Bay Area artists.

Review by Harry J. Johnson: Forty works of art by Kerry Hallam-- including acrylics, oils, mixed media and prints-- are currently on display or available for viewing at Martin Lawrence Gallery on Geary Street. I ask the artist about his work...

"Oscar Wilde said painting is the telling of beautiful untruths," says Hallam, whose work is exhibited and collected worldwide. "As an artist you take something and add something to it, to throw it into perhaps a different light, or different atmosphere. I think Oscar Wilde was saying, it's not the slavish copying of reality, it's using reality as a springboard to a more creative vision."

Hallam, a former small boat sailor who lives in Nantucket, an island off the Massachusetts coast, uses nautical charts as a foundation for some of his paintings. "Nautical charts are intrinsically pretty," he says. "They're very attractive, and I suppose psychologically they have certain connotations of travel, adventure and romance, all rolled into one. So obviously, if you paint on top of that, sailboats or whatever, it adds to the whole feeling of the work."

His practice of "arbitrary use of color," he adds, was inspired by the Fauvist movement of the early 20th Century, which began in Paris. The Fauves, or wild beasts, were known for their flamboyant use of color. "It's making colors fit each other rather than fit the reality. Matisse was always one of the prime Fauvists, along with Raoul Dufy. They knew how to use juxtapositions of colors to get the effects they wanted. It's not just willy-nilly. It looks sort of arbitrary, but it really isn't, it's carefully thought through."

Comment by AB: Artists' Television Access (ATA), now in its 26th year, is an arts organization dedicated to supporting local underground media and experimental art, and tonight's art auction fundraiser is all about that.

Comment by AB: Nordic 5 Arts is comprised of professional artists of Nordic/Scandinavian descent and artists born in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Their members' group show opens here at Inclusions Gallery tonight.

Comment by AB: Art by over 80 artists will be auctioned to raise funds for the remaining two hikers, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, who were detained by Iranian forces for supposedly crossing the border into Iran while on a recreational hike, and who remain in captivity. The third hiker, Sarah Shourd, was released on humanitarian grounds and is here tonight to speak on behalf of the cause.